Happy Easter!

Phew! Boy did we have a busy weekend. We started off bright and early Saturday morning with gymnastics at the Y. Robert had the day off so he was able to join us. Once we got home we headed over to the park for an egg hunt, Easter egg dying, and a cookout with other families in our neighborhood.

The best thing about dying eggs in the park was that it kept the mess outside!
Coby dyed both of his green (his favorite color!) and they were his favorite eggs of the day!
The kids were chomping at the bit to get to those eggs, and once they gave the okay, they were off!
Coby wasn't nearly as impressed with these eggs as he was with his "real" one that he dyed himself.

After naps (for all of us) we got ready for the baseball game. The team was hosting an egg hunt on the field before the game. Coby loves the Gators, especially Baseball Al.
This morning we got up and out the door early again so we could get to church before brunch at Aunt Lulu's and Gram's. Brunch was delicious - creamed eggs on toast, scrapple, pecan sticky buns and fruit salad. Yummy! The best part was looking at old family photos. So much fun that we just had to take a group photo for Cory and Coby to laugh at when they get older.

Sunny Days

After the whirlwind that was spring break, we ended up taking it pretty easy this week. We went to the UF baseball game last Sunday. Coby was dying to see some baseball! He now goes everywhere with his ball and glove.
Last week all the kids in our playgroup got together to take a trip to the zoo.

He especially loved the bonobo and capuchin monkeys, as well as the ocelot. Which, interestingly enough, was his favorite animal at the Portland zoo! The ocelot exhibit has a viewing area that allows you to get almost inside his cage. The kids loved it!
Friday night I drove down to Orlando with my friend Melissa to compete in Muddy Buddy - an event sponsored by Columbia. It took place at Disney's Wide World of Sports. The race was a relay of sorts. We took turns running and riding a bike. I ended up running 3.5 miles and biking 2.5 (no race results at the time of this post...) and my partner did the opposite. Along the course there were all kinds of "muddy" obstacles. I met my personal goal of not stopping and walking at any point in the race.

The only drawback was that it started at 7:00 am. On a Saturday!!!! Here we are getting ready at 5 in the morning.
Getting ready to race...
Finish line!

Spring Break

The beginning of spring break was spent spring cleaning. We took a huge load of clothes etc. to the Hospice Thrift Store and got our yard spiffed up. The end of spring break is turning out the same way. We cleaned out the garage today - getting rid of stuff we hadn't even unpacked after we moved into the house almost 2 years ago! I shampooed the carpet and Robert finally moved the computer desk into the little space off of the laundry room. Thank goodness in the middle of all this Coby and I were able to take a trip to the beach!

A friend from work is a SUPER organizer and got a bunch of us to split the cost of renting a condo just North of St. Augustine for a few days. We had 4 moms and 6 kids in a 3-bedroom condo on the beach. It was pretty rainy most of the time, but that didn't keep us from having a great time!

On that first rainy day we got out of the house early and took a quick boat ride over to Fort Matanzas.
Afterward, we took a stroll along the beach in front of the condo. The weather was a bit more like that you'd find on the Oregon coast than I was hoping, but it didn't stop us from sticking our toes in the ocean!
When we got back to the condo, a few of the little ones went down for a nap and the rest of the kids started playing a game I'm not sure I understood. It involved a lot of yelling, jumping, and arguing!
Aaaahhh...finally the mommies have some time to relax!
The next day was also less than perfect weather, but we found plenty of ways to have fun. First we went to a little park with a fantastic playground and a carousel to boot!
Coby would have ridden his horse "Boomer" all day if we'd let him!
That night the kids got it into their heads that we should go down to the beach at night to look for shells. We didn't find much, but it was a lot of fun!

The next day - the day we were leaving - was finally beach weather and we certainly took advantage of it!
Making "cupcakes" with Caleigh.
Digging for pirate treasure!